Surgical retractors with lights are known. For example, see: U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,832 (Wilder), US Publication No. 2007/0060795 (Vayser), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,384,392 & 8,012,089 (both to Bayat). Wilder discloses a retractor with a flexible light pipe. Vayser, in FIG. 1, shows a retractor 1 with a LED (light emitting diode) light 3 and a battery 4. The LED and battery are “all mounted on a strip of tape 8.” Vayser, Paragraph 10. Thus, as the invention is described in the independent claims, the lighting components are ‘releasably securable’ to the retractor. Bayat, on the other hand, shows in FIG. 7, a plurality of LED's 120 along the longitudinal axis of the blade and discloses that the LEDs may be located ‘within the profile of the blade.’ Bayat '392, column 4, lines 45-58; and Bayat '089, the paragraph bridging columns 5 and 6. Bayat goes on to say that the ‘blade near the light is constructed of a translucent or transparent material to allow the light to pass through the blade.’ Ibid. Bayat '089 also discloses a camera 136, see FIG. 7, as part of the retractor.
While these retractors are a solution to the problem of providing a light on a retractor, there is room for improvement. The retractor disclosed below is an improvement over these known retractors with a light.